Leader: ‘The Capital is a brilliant place to be’

We don’t need a survey to tell us that Edinburgh is a fantastic city with a host of world-beating attractions – but it’s nice all the same.

The TripAdvisor awards today simply reinforce what we all know – the Capital is a brilliant place to live or visit.

We can boast six of the UK’s top attractions, more than anywhere else outside London. But then why go to London? We have more top landmarks, with three out of the top ten places in that list being claimed by Auld Reekie!

The awards have not been compiled by industry experts, they are far more valuable than that. They are based on the ratings provided by ordinary visitors.

Visitors who will tell their family and friends – and the online community – about what a fantastic time they had in the Athens of the North.

Business leaders are hoping to reap the benefits of the ratings and this boost can’t be underestimated.

Tourism is already worth an estimated £1.6 billion to the city economy, supporting 30,000 jobs, and helping to recession-proof our economy.

To develop this further is not just important for our city but to Scotland as a whole.

In taking a minute to bask in our success, our city leaders also need to be aware of the challenge in making sure we stay at the top of the tourist table.

The rest of us can celebrate the best news from today’s TripAdvisor poll – we already live here.

Simply unromantic

so what’s wrong with calling a spade a spade.

The public’s choice of the unromantic Queensferry Crossing as the name of the new Forth bridge might lead some to accuse us Scots of lacking imagination.

But we like the simplicity – and its much better than the far more prosaic Firth of Forth Crossing.